A year or so after the US intervention in Afghanistan began in 2001 I perceived that there was a danger that US public and government opinion might begin to favor the idea of "nation building" in Afghanistan.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the "B-Team" once facilitated the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC), and is now pushing the White House to drive up economic terrorism against Iran.

French President Emmanuel Macron failed to promote successfully his Iranian initiative with the US administration despite the initial blessing of his US counterpart. This failure led Iran to make a third gradual withdrawal from its JCPOA nuclear deal commitment, raising two main issues. Iran has become a regional power to be reckoned with, so we can now scrap from reactions to its policies the words “submit,” or “bow to the international community”. Moreover, since Europe is apparently no longer in a position to fulfil its commitments, Iran will now be headed towards a total pull-out following further gradual withdrawal steps.

Previously, in April and September of 2018, the Israeli prime minister reported `Mossad intelligence information` which he said exposed an alleged clandestine Iranian nuclear programme operating in contravention of Tehran`s commitments to the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran has dismissed all the claims.

A blast in Kabul that killed a dozen people, including an American soldier, shows that there is no point in negotiating with the Taliban, who can’t even uphold a ceasefire during important talks, President Trump says.

The US and the Taliban are about to sign an agreement to withdraw 14,000 US troops from Afghanistan, potentially ending the longest war in US history. However, the Afghans will not see an end to fighting yet, says The Independent`s Patrick Cockburn

Iran says it has started up advanced centrifuges to boost the country`s stockpile of enriched uranium, warning signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal that the clock is ticking for them to salvage the landmark agreement in the face of pressure by the United Stats.

In Afghanistan, “the world’s first narco-state” operates under US Marines very nose. ll the latest news on Afghanistan is about Donald Trump’s peace agreement with Taliban and the possible end of America’s longest war. However, it is happening against a background of another acute problem and this one seems even more seriously than a path home for 14,000 American troops before the 2020 United States presidential election. The problem is Afghan heroin.

Iraq’s intelligence services believe that five recent drone attacks on Iraqi paramilitaries were launched from bases under the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia’s control in north Syria, an official told Middle East Eye. The Iraqi official, who has knowledge of the latest intelligence briefing from Baghdad’s security services, said the strikes were conducted by Israel, with the understanding of the SDF and backing of Saudi Arabia. `The drone attacks were launched from SDF areas with the financing and backing of the Saudis`

There is a war on Iraq, really a continuation of the war on Iraq that began in 1991 and renewed in 2003, despite the version of events fed the public. Iraq had oil, had power and if Saddam were removed, would be ruled by a Shia majority quite possibly loyal to Iran, a nation that in 1979, had overthrown a US backed dictatorship. The wildcard here is the Kurds and the other, Israel. As has become clear under Trump, Israeli influence, all those stories about the ADL and AIPAC, the Epstein-Maxwell blackmail rings, the MEGA billionaires, are only the tip of the iceberg.

The Arab sheikhs who instigated the US-Iran standoff have heard the African proverb, ‘When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers’. But they chose to ignore it. The assumption in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi was that President Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ strategy would frighten Tehran and life would be back to normal very soon with a weakened Iran bludgeoned into submission. On the contrary, the gyre of the US-Iran standoff is only widening by the day. What was thought to be a localised affair is acquiring international dimensions. America’s Arab allies no longer have a say in the mutation of the US-Iran standoff.

A large aircraft carrier strike force that the United States sent to the Middle East in May on an accelerated schedule to “deter” Iran has been “steering clear” of the country since arrival, staying as far away as the Arabian Sea for fear of Iranian military strikes in case of a potential conflict.

President Trump’s policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran, notes former CIA analyst Paul Pillar, is more obsession than strategy, and a not-so-mysterious explosion on the outskirts of Baghdad Monday shows why. Iraqi political analysts are blaming the attack on Israel, saying it follows two attacks earlier this month on facilities of Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. According to an Israeli news report, Israel launched the two attacks with U.S.-made F-35 jets.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has expressed concern about tensions in Kashmir, urging India to follow a fair policy with respect to people of the Muslim-majority region.

There is an eminently reasonable and feasible way to avoid conflict in the Persian Gulf, and to secure peace. The principles of multilateralism and international law must be adhered to. It seems almost astounding that one has to appeal for such obvious basic norms. Fortunately, Russia has presented a roadmap for implementing a security concept in the vital waterway based on the above principles.

The United States has cut Pakistan’s foreign aid by $440 million, according to reports, sending mixed signals as Donald Trump seeks mediation between New Delhi and Islamabad over the crisis in Kashmir.

In what is a severely under reported but perhaps the most alarming development out of the Middle East this week, Iraq`s government has said it`s ready to down any aircraft violating its airspace amid a blanket ban on `unauthorized` flights not specifically approved by the prime minister`s office. Military Times reported the day after Iraq closed its airspace on Thursday

he UK acknowledged its first defeat by Iran when it released the Iranian super tanker “Grace 1” captured by 30 Royal Navy commandos in the first week of July in response to a US request, as the Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell revealed. In response, Iran will release the British-flagged tanker “Stena Impero”, captured by the “Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps” (IRGC) Special Forces before Saturday mid-day. This tit-for-tat response by Iran showed its determined deterrence policy towards the west: Iran is ready to accept any consequences, including a possible war if necessary.

This desperation stems primarily from the Iranian refusal to accept these US terms, and it grows out of Washington’s inability to force Iran into capitulation. To achieve the purpose through ‘other’ means, the US secretly invited, according to reports in the Western media, the Iranian foreign minister to visit the White House to have a meeting with the US president. Iran refused this invitation, leading to Washington’s decision to sanction the sitting Iranian foreign minister as well.

…by Nahed al Husaini, VT Damascus with Sources in Russia and Iran
According to senior sources close to the Iranian regime, Russia plans to use Iranian ports in Bushehr and Chekhbehar as advanced military bases for warships and nuclear submarines. Warships will be guarded by special forces soldiers under the guise of “military advisers.” In addition, Russia intends to use the air base near Bushehr as a base airport for 35 Su-57 fighters.

This was not the result opposition parties in Pakistan were expecting. Despite commanding majority, they failed to unseat the government backed Chairman Senate. Sadiq Sanjrani has survived the no trust motion after opposition fell by only three votes.

Although the Trump administration is not looking for war, despite the fact that Iran turned its missiles against the UK Royal Navy HMS Montrose and the US destroyers (when the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps confiscated the British-flag tanker Stena Impero). This is the reason that the British command chose to avoid a military confrontation and decided against a military intervention to protect the tanker.

As I pen this short essay, Iran is standing against the mightiest nation on earth. It is facing tremendous danger; of annihilation even, if the world does not wake up fast, and rush to its rescue. Stunning Iranian cities are in danger, but above all, its people: proud and beautiful, creative, formed by one of the oldest and deepest cultures on earth. This is a reminder to the world: Iran may be bombed, devastated and injured terribly, for absolutely no reason. I repeat: there is zero rational reason for attacking Iran.

US special envoy to “peace talks” with Afghan Taliban militants says they have vowed not to let future Afghanistan be turned into terrorists` hotbed, an ostensibly awkward pledge from a group whose terror attacks ceaselessly kill both civilians and government troops across the militant-infested country.

HARDtalk’s Zeinab Badawi is in New York for a rare interview with Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif who is attending high level talks at the UN. Hostilities between Iran and the US are at a historic high; recently, President Trump said he was ‘ten minutes away from war with Tehran’. Could the two countries stumble into a war?